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| Jamie Murray earned a victory in his first professional game |
The Allen Americans extended their home winning streak to 10 games yesterday by beating the Wichita Thunder 3-2. It was the final game of the season between Allen and Wichita and the Americans completed a perfect 13-0 record against the Thunder.
Allen jumped off the a 2-0 in the first 10 minutes of the game on goals by Tristan King (10) and Reid Halabi (1). Wichita spent the rest of the game trying to catch up. The Thunder out shot Allen in all three periods and ended up with a 42-23 shot advantage for the game. Jamie Murray, who was making his first professional start, frustrated the Thunder time and time again.
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| Tristan King opened the scoring 100 seconds into the game - photo by scenebykimberly.com |
Former Allen player Kale Kerbashian got Wichita on the scoreboard in the second period and the Thunder tied the score 2-2 with just 103 seconds remaining in the game. It looked like the great effort by Murray would lead to overtime but just 31 seconds later David Makowski got the game winner on a great pass from Chad Costello. It was Makowski's 12 goal of the season.
Murray had to make a final save as time expired when Kerbashian got the puck off the draw and fired a wrist shot from close range.
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| Jamie Murray made 40 saves and was named the #2 star of the game - photo by scenebykimberly.com |
The Americans have the day off today and will practice tomorrow (Tuesday) in preparation for a game against Missouri on Wednesday. In light of two serious injuries (Allen's Aaron Gens & Missouri's Jesse Root) in the game against Missouri last Wednesday it will be interesting to see what transpires in this rematch. Spencer Asuchak and C.J. Ludwig who are currently under indefinite suspensions for the plays that ended with the injuries to Gens and Root will hear today how many games they will be suspended. Ludwig has already missed one game and Asuchak has missed two games. Don't expect either of them to be playing on Wednesday.
STEVE MARTINSON'S POST GAME COMMENTS
- The three things I liked about that game were the play of the Nick Miglio and Jamie Murray and the Makowski goal after Wichita tied the game at the end.
- Our power play is not good right now (0-3) as we are trying to pass the puck and be cute while passing up good scoring opportunities. So I said to the guys we have to shoot more so we shot some pucks that maybe we should have passed. We are going to have to use video to go over what we are doing.
- We didn't play very well today. The first period was pretty good with the two early goals and we missed several other scoring opportunities but their goalie made some great saves.
- We have to take the good as we got the win. We will take the day off tomorrow and then get ready for Missouri.
- I am working on some additional roster changes as we approach the playoffs. I had a guy that I was sure was coming but he has an agent who has slowed things down looking for an AHL deal. All I can say is I am talking to some people and working on some stuff.
- Utica traded for a couple of players and are expecting guys coming back from injury. If that happens I see Hanson returning.
- The doctor is seeing Chris Crane and Justin Courtnall tomorrow and we will find out if they will be available on Wednesday.
- Jamie Murray is just here for the week and then he is headed back to school (Babson College). I thought he played great. I said to the guys before the game let's not leave it to a guy playing his first professional game from a Division III school to win the game. It is a big jump from that level of college hockey to the ECHL. But that is what we did, we left it to Murray to win the game for us and he came through. Murray will get another game next weekend before he returns to school.
- We will be getting a goalie from San Jose once Murray heads back to school.
- It was good to get a goal from the third line. Nick Miglio was showing good speed and some nice moves and Reid Halabi got his first goal. I am not happy with Reid's penalty at the end. If he is not happy about something another player did to him, take it out on the other team, don't go and complain to the referee.
- When congratulated by a fan for his 1400th game as a head coach at his post game press conference, Martinson replied as you might imagine, "Thank you, I don't know what is significant about 1400. I don't remember anyone bringing up 1200 or 1300."
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| Steve Martinson coached his 1400 game in the win over Wichita - photo by Dianne Webster |
OTHER COMMENTS
- Chad Costello had two assists yesterday to extend his streak to eight games where he has had at least one assist. He had 14 assists in those games. Chad now has a 22 points lead in the ECHL scoring race and has more assists (64) than anyone else in the league has points.
- Jamie Murray will only be in Allen for the next week before he heads back to school (Babson College) to finish his education but don't be surprised if you seem him back in Allen in the fall. He just signed with the San Jose Sharks organization so you could see him being assigned to Allen next season. In addition to his numerous hockey awards in college, Jamie was also academic all conference and a finalist for the hockey Humanitarian Award. In case you were wondering, Babson College is a private business school located in Wellesley, Massachusetts established in 1919. Its central focus is on entrepreneurship education.
- In their last six games Allen is averaging 4.83 goals per game.
- With their fourth straight win Allen has stretched their lead for the fourth seed in the Western Conference to six points over Utah. Here are the current point totals with games remaining for those battling for the fourth seed:
77 points: Allen (11 games remaining)
71 points: Utah (10 games)
70 points: Cincinnati (12 games)
67 points: Colorado (13 games)
64 points: Quad City (12 games)
- If the playoffs started today here is how it would look:
#1 Missouri vs #8 Quad City
#4 Allen vs #5 Utah
The winners of these seven game series would play in the second round.
#2 Fort Wayne vs #7 Colorado
#3 Idaho vs #6 Cincinnati
The winner of these seven game series would play in the second round.
- Congrats to Joel Rumpel who celebrates his 25th birthday today.
- Came across this story yesterday about Daniel Tetrault who won the only professional championship in his storied career in Allen in 2013-14. Daniel has always talked about becoming a coach when his playing days were over. While he is no longer playing professionally he is playing senior hockey back home in Manitoba. You might enjoy this update story about Daniel Tetrault: http://www.wheatkings.com/article/alumni-profile-dan-tetrault
QUESTION OF THE DAY: Thanks to Phil for today's question.
Q: How does Nolan Bowker handle the dual responsibilities of equipment manager and back up goalie when the team plays on the road and he has no help like he does at home games.
A: Here is Nolan with the answer.
DID YOU KNOW: The Allen Americans are tough to beat when they get a lead. Check out these records for this season:
27-2-1-1: When scoring first
19-1-1-0: When leading after the first period
26-1-0-1: When leading after the second period
I thought once you signed a pro contract you couldn't play college sports? Surprised he can go back to his college team after appearing in a pro organization.
ReplyDeleteEither way he played great yesterday and would love to see him back in an Allen uniform.
Loving the video questions!
ReplyDeleteKevin he's going back to finish his degree...not play.
ReplyDelete